A month after Pope Francis's remarks over the first biblical book, the Torah, which is one of the most sacred scriptures for Jews, a senior Israeli rabbi wrote a letter to the Vatican, demanding a clarification for what exactly was meant by the head of Catholic church.
According to the Chief of Israeli Rabbinate’s relations with the Vatican, Rabbi Rasson Arousi, there are worries amongst Jews that Pope Francis's statements suggested that the Jewish Law "was obsolete."
Vatican and Israel’s chief rabbi in dispute over Torah’s relevance to Jews https://t.co/Soq7ZfY8NJ
— National Post (@nationalpost) September 10, 2021
In the letter written by Rabbi Rasson Arousi, the Rabbi was hinting that the Pope's remarks remind Jewish people of the historic "teaching of contempt," referring to an era of hostility between the Catholic church and Jews prior to the 20th century.
However, Reuters reported the Vatican response in an official letter where the religious institution clarified that the Pope was merely quoting the writing of St. Paul during his remarks, which should "not be extrapolated from their context of ancient times and had no bearings on today’s Jews."
“Pope Francis fully respects the foundations of Judaism and always seeks to deepen the bonds of friendship between the two faith traditions.”
— National Catholic Register (@NCRegister) September 10, 2021
~Cardinal Kurt Koch reassures Jewish leaders over @Pontifex's comments on the Torahhttps://t.co/GpGjzvsc8T
The Torah is one of five sacred books to believers in Judaism and it contains hundreds of everyday life rules also known as mitzvot that should be followed by Jews.
